


A Change of Perspective

by peppermintcake



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 08:15:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30018840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppermintcake/pseuds/peppermintcake
Summary: Little insights into Casey and Bryce’s relationship from their friends’ perspectives.A little collection of snippets that are in universe-chronological order (B1Ch2 - B3Ch2).
Relationships: Bryce Lahela/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 7





	A Change of Perspective

**Zaid**

“Could we get some privacy, man?”

Oh, goody.

Zaid is barely able to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the sight of two horny kids – clothes hastily getting tucked down, hair tousled – in the supply closet. He really could have lived without this image. Couldn’t they just get busy in a locked room? Or even better, at home?

And the guy’s tone? As if this wouldn’t be a supply closet in a hospital but rather a closet those teenagers had snuck into during a party, playing seven minutes in heaven.

“Oh, by all means. I’m so sorry to intrude. I’ll just wait out here ‘til you’re done. Or, if I may be so bold… might you hand me a suture kit?”

The lines on Zaid’s forehead are deep when he observes the guy reaching for the kit. Green scrubs, scalpel jockey. Of course. That answers why he was so bold to assume that he could claim the supply closet as his personal bedroom.

The girl on the other hand is pressing her lips together, looking down, clearly embarrassed.

The uncomfortable silence stretches and Zaid has half a mind to just barge in and get the suture kit himself, relief flooding him when the guy finally holds it out for him to take. At least he had enough brain to find it. Whoopee.

“… Much obligated.”

This time he rolls his eyes. It’s almost always those youngsters that occupy the supply closets or on-call rooms, interrupting his workflow or his well-earned relaxation – probably because they haven’t yet experienced how some of their colleagues gossip, and finding somebody making out in this hospital is always something that gets talked about excessively. And with Zaid having personally experienced how annoying this can be, he knows that the only thing he can currently do to protect those two obviously new interns is to stay quiet.

_____

**Danny**

Gossip. Rumors.

The hospital is full of them and the nurses station is the linchpin of the rumor mill, supplying everybody with information. It’s alarming and fascinating in equal measure to see the majority of hospital employees starving for a little gossip, seeing it as an escape from the high stakes of their jobs and spreading it like wildfire.

Danny himself never truly cared for it, the rumors oftentimes false, misleading. And the power of them makes him uncomfortable, probably the result of having been an outsider in high school, the little gossip that has been spread about him and his friends either hurtful or embarrassing.

He prefers to get to know the people, connect with them without judging them, especially not on the basis of rumors. But sometimes, rumors turn out to hold at least a little truth in them. Just like the ones spreading about Dr. Bryce Lahela and Dr. Casey Valentine.

And after joining Sienna and her friends for the _Classics on the Common_ a few days ago, seeing them interacting in a non-work environment and disappearing together during the movie, he’s at least sure that the rumors about them being an item aren’t completely baseless. Unlike a lot of his colleagues though, who are hoping for their chance with one of the doctors, Danny isn’t truly invested in their relationship.

Nonetheless, when he notices Bryce lingering at the nurses station, charming smile in place while flirting with Sarah, he cannot resist observing him, the files he’s currently working on not nearly as interesting. Despite his best attempts to hide it, Bryce seems a little restless, looking into the hospital hallway every now and then and when Casey appears minutes later, engrossed in a patient chart, his smile melts into a more genuine one.

Danny averts his eyes then, set on concentrating on his work once again when he hears Sienna laughing, his pulse suddenly a little faster. And unlike in high school, the kindest and most beautiful girl in the building gives him a wide smile – one that he reciprocates, his eyes following her until she disappears around a corner, his heartbeat slowing down again a few moments later. His smile however lingers.

_____

**Kyra**

“Hot damn,” Kyra breathes out, watching the hottest show she’s ever seen from her front-row seat.

Sultry music is playing in the club, strobe lights flickering over the scene in front of her, tinting the atmosphere in a warm light. It’s way too hot and she is fanning herself, an encouraging whistle escaping her. For a moment she thinks she must have died and gone to heaven, but if that were the case she surely would be included in this party.

But here she simply observes, a sweaty arm grazing her shoulder as the crowd around them continues to move to the beat, while Casey’s and Bryce’s legs stand still in the middle of the dance floor, their mouths and tongues locked in a passionate dance of their own.

The action in front of her almost leaves Kyra herself breathless, just watching as their hands restlessly roam each other and hair gets pulled lightly. She’s kind of impressed how long they can go without separating, without breathing. As if the other can provide the needed oxygen. As if they can’t survive without the closeness to the other.

Eventually, they do part, chests heaving while they hold eye contact, only breaking it when Kyra leans forward, breaking the spell and making them jump a little.

“Please tell me you’re going to name one of your good looking babies after me.”

For a moment they look sheepish, Casey’s face even more flushed now than a second ago and Kyra’s grinning widely.

Bryce laughs and winks at her. “Already giving up on snagging one of us hot doctors, Kyra?”

“A girl knows when she has lost. Besides I already have –"

“We’re just –“

“Just friends.”

_____

**Ethan**

He’s tired.

Tired of all the interns needing somebody to hold their hand, needing somebody to tell them that they did a good job. It’s been months – _months_ – since they started working. He’s tired of people sucking up to him like it would somehow make him like them. And it’s incredible that _somehow_ , now that the news are officially out that Casey’s going to join the diagnostics team, it’s even worse than before.

That’s why Ethan escaped into his favorite café, needing just a moment to recharge – away from the possibility of people completely sucking the life out him. The walk back is over way too soon and even before he walks into the employee parking lot behind the hospital, he hears the horn of one vehicle sounding over the regular Boston traffic, a long and extremely irritating noise that lets up for a moment before it sounds again.

Briskly, he walks along the rows of parked cars on his way to the hospital side entrance, looking into the vehicles, the annoying sound haunting him now. Finally, he spots some movement in one of them, anger clearly bubbling up under his surface.

It’s only when he has knocked on the window, once, then twice, the sound stopped and Ethan glances into the car that he sees what has caused this. His jealousy – unreasonable as it may be – boiling over at seeing Casey straddling Bryce’s lap in the driver’s seat, their hair tousled, their lips swollen. Bryce lowers the window, his hand still on Casey’s hip.

“Here for the show, Dr. Ramsey?”

He winks at him and Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance and irritation.

“You’re on the clock.”

Casey leans forward now, a grin on her face.

“Sorry, Ethan, we’re on a break… But I guess I can see why you’re concerned. With you gone and the two best interns having disappeared for ten minutes _the place must be_ _falling apart_. We’re going to walk into an apocalypse now, aren’t we?”

Ethan can’t help but smile at that, losing it mere seconds later when Casey leans in to press a quick kiss on the scalpel jockey’s lips before she slowly and with a lot of effort climbs out of the car. The tight knot that had formed in Ethan’s stomach eases only slightly.

Because now he knows with absolute certainty that the rumors he had heard might actually really be true, that the few times he had to witness them making out at Donahue’s weren’t just alcohol-infused , lust-driven escapades between two friends, and he has to get over it. Quite frankly, he never should have developed any feelings for Casey Valentine in the first place – she certainly never gave him any signal that she reciprocates, that she is pining for _him_ – but seeing them like this is the last straw, the moment the blanket irrevocably gets ripped away and Ethan stands alone in the freezing cold.

_____

**Aurora**

Surprisingly, she likes having roommates.

The experience is new to Aurora and sometimes she’s slightly irritated by the way the group handles the living situation. The cleaning schedule, the notes telling everybody everyone’s work schedule, the fact that everybody seems to have to know where everyone is at all times, what they’re doing, how they’re feeling.

It’s simultaneously great and extremely exhausting.

And today it’s definitely a pain. How can one even _think_ with that much noise in the background?

Slowly, Aurora sits up in her bed, planting her feet on the floor before quietly making her way over to Casey’s bedroom door. It’s ridiculous, really. As if _she_ would be the one disturbing one of their neighbors while walking in socks. As if anybody would even hear anything over the loud music coming from her roommate’s room.

She comes to a halt in front of the door, fiddling with her hands when she realizes that she doesn’t know the protocol for such a situation. Plus… she got warned by the others that Casey and Bryce sometimes listen to music during coitus. The question is just: Would they listen to _Abba_ during the sexual act?

She’s unsure and when she realizes that she has been standing in front of Casey’s door for way too long, the risk of hearing them being intimate way too high, she turns around again.

_Mamma Mia, here we go again_

_My my, how can I resist you_

_Mamma Mia, does it show again_

_My my, just how much I missed you_

It’s only when she hears Bryce’s horrible singing voice, joined a second later by an enthusiastic sounding Casey, her voice slightly cracking, that she turns around again.

Of course, her knocks aren’t getting heard and Aurora grimaces in pain the louder and worse their singing gets. Finally, she decides to just chance it, the reward of having not to hear this anymore seeming greater than the fear of potentially seeing them naked. Judging by their tones, she’s at least sure that they aren’t currently mid-coitus.

Carefully, Aurora peeks through the little crack in the door. She’s greeted by an image that she should have expected but clearly didn’t.

Honestly, before moving in she hadn’t been a huge fan of this group, her opinion on Casey slightly tinted during the competition and influenced by the experiences she had had in her past. And Bryce, …well, she had definitely thought of him as an arrogant jerk and with the way he flirted with the nurses and patients, she was sure that he would be a playboy. She definitely didn’t think she would see them like this.

Standing in front of each on the bed, both in their underwear – _thank god_ –, Casey and Bryce are dancing like their lives depend on it – arms getting thrown to the side, hips swaying, butts shaking, hair getting tossed everywhere in silly, over the top dance moves. Their voices are still awful, but somehow seeing them like this, radiating pure delight, happiness, being completely carefree, makes their voices somewhat tolerable.

Not tolerable enough though for her to accept their invitation to join them (even though they made it clear that she could keep her clothes on) or to not ask them to turn down the volume.

_____

**Rafael**

It’s their first double date. Or not-date. Friend hangout?

Whatever one calls hanging out with one’s girlfriend, one’s best friend and a friend one has kissed a couple of times about a year ago before she ended things because she was starting to develop feelings for her friend, now one’s best friend, but both say that they’re ‘just friends’ despite being all over each other quite often and for everybody to see.

And just right now, they’re inline skating in front of Rafael and Sora – who follow them on their bikes – along the riverbank of the Charles, hands clasped despite their speed and the protective gear they’re wearing. Just as friends of course.

With the light summer breeze and the sun warming his skin Rafael smiles, happy so far about the outing. He was a little worried about Sora spending more time with Casey and Bryce, the two of them together, since lately they’ve become increasingly open in flirting with each other. And if there’s one thing Rafael has learned in the past weeks, it’s that they can go from being friends to cute ‘couple’ to shamelessly flirting to horny teenagers in mere seconds.

“…Wanna bet?”

Rafael shakes his head in amusement when the group stops in front of a group of teenagers who has set up two rows of lined up cups, running slalom through them on their inline skates. Of course, this would end like this, Casey and Bryce both too competitive to say no to a little fun competition.

“Racing against each other?”

“Afraid you can’t keep up with me?”

With a grin spreading over her lips but a certain softness in her eyes, Casey nods upwards. “Name your wager, Lahela.”

Bryce’s eyes sparkle and before Rafael can say anything to remind the two of them of his and Sora’s presence, he already speaks up. “Winner gets a striptease?”

Rafael sighs in relief, having feared something more explicit to leave Bryce’s mouth, but a look at Sora, her nose scrunched, her body stiff, tells him that he was right to worry about the dynamic between the four of them. And if Sora is already uncomfortable with _this_ , then another friend hangout with just the four of them is probably off the table.

_____

**Keiki**

Maybe Boston isn’t all that bad.

Keiki is still getting used to it all. Seeing her brother, hell… _speaking_ to him, living in a new city, the people, the new opportunities, her new life. It’s overwhelming. Especially since she’s still trying to find her place in all the chaos and Bryce’s life.

“Aah!”

A short shriek makes Keiki jump on her stool on the kitchen counter, her pen falling down on her math homework.

“You okay, Bryce?”

“Yeah,” he answers through the closed bathroom door and Casey shrugs her shoulders at Keiki.

“Maybe one of his hair products is nearly empty and he’s freaking out?”

“Or one strand of his hair is slightly out of place.”

Casey grins at her, amusement flickering in her eyes when she looks up from preparing dinner, the kitchen already smelling delicious.

“Or…”

“Can’t stop talking about me, huh?”

Bryce strolls into the kitchen again, a grin on his face that doesn’t quite meet his eyes and one quick glance at Casey tells her that she has noticed it too.

“Everything okay?”

“Just a spider.”

Keiki presses her lips together, a fond smile threatening to spread over her lips. He always hated spiders. It’s one of her most vivid memories from her childhood, her rescuing her older brother from one of them and him telling her, with a loving expression in his eyes, that she’s his hero. She had always remembered it and thought about the piggyback rides she had gotten for the rest of that day whenever she saw one – not that that was often, thanks to the Lahelas employing cleaners that usually left the house in a spotless condition and spider-free.

Casey smiles sweetly, puts the spoon down and the pan to the side and leans in, one hand on Bryce’s chest to steady herself as she stands on her tiptoes to place a quick kiss on his cheek before she makes her way into the bathroom – and Keiki deflates in her chair. She isn’t needed here. He has Casey. _She_ is his hero now. And Bryce probably doesn’t even remember that Keiki was his hero once.

“Holy shit!” Casey returns into the kitchen, eyes wide. “It’s huge.”

“I know.”

“ _Too_ huge.”

All too eager, Keiki stands up while Casey hesitates and rips an old page out of her school calendar. The paper harshly runs through her fingers and Keiki whines, murmuring the word _paper cut_ when Bryce and Casey throw her worried looks. The pain isn’t going to deter her from her mission though, so she quickly grabs a glass and disappears into the bathroom.

She sucks in a deep breath, the spider indeed being a little bigger than she has ever seen, but giving up just isn’t an option. Not in general, but especially not with this. She knows it’s a little stupid, a little ridiculous, but maybe – hopefully – this little thing will make her feel closer to Bryce again, will make her feel like in the old times. And it might also make her feel like less of a burden and more like somebody who can contribute to their living situation – even if it’s just on the spider-front.

Relieved and triumphant, Keiki walks by Casey and Bryce a minute later, the spider captured between the glass and the paper.

“You got it?”

Keiki nods at Casey before her eyes find Bryce’s.

“You’re my hero, Keiks.”

Her breath catches for a moment, the corners of her lips threatening to widen into a smile and giving in while she focuses on Bryce who looks at her with a thankful and knowing (?) look. Maybe he does remember…

Fondly, she rolls her eyes. “And you’re a wimp,” she answers before her eyes flicker over to Casey. “You both are.”

_____

**Sienna**

The clock on her phone shows 03:11 am as the doors of the elevator slide open and Sienna can finally leave the harsh lights behind her when she steps out into the long hotel hallway, Vegas suddenly seeming wonderfully silent.

The walk to the door of her friend group’s room seems endless though and having almost tripped over air, Sienna steadies herself by placing her hand on the wall on the way there, the margaritas she drank showing their unpleasant side effect.

Her perception is so fogged, all her concentration on walking in a somewhat straight line that she first struggles with the key card, almost gets taken down by a suitcase and then doesn’t notice the sounds coming from her room. She only stops in her tracks when she sees them.

Bare skin on bare skin, intertwined in a dance of ecstasy and eyes intensely locked. The groaning and screaming suddenly tear through Sienna’s thoughts in a terrifying volume, only adding to the uncomfortableness she feels at seeing Bryce’s hips snapping up, burying himself deeper in Casey.

“Oh! I, uh… I’ll, um… come back later!”

Hastily, like she’s running away from her worst nightmare, she leaves the hotel room, stumbling into the hotel hallway. An unpleasant shiver runs down her spine and when she’s in the elevator again, Sienna presses her fingers into her closed eyeballs until she sees stars, as if she could simply erase what she saw with this motion.

It doesn’t work, of course. Nothing probably ever will. And while she kind of had gotten used to their sounds while doing _it_ , or better said, she had learned to always have her headphones close by, it was just a different experience to see it as well. One that she wishes she never had. One that she’ll pretend never happened.

But the worst part of it, Sienna realizes after having downed a mojito in record time at the hotel bar, is to have witnessed, even in that one fleeting moment, the gentleness, the care, the love Casey and Bryce showed each other. Sienna sinks further into the comfortable chair in the hotel lobby at the thought, tears stinging her eyes.

Of course, she’s happy for her friends. Beyond happy, actually. But something about seeing them like this today makes her feel lonely, shattered and broken.

Maybe it’s the alcohol or maybe it’s because she hasn’t seen Casey and Bryce together all that much, at least not similarly close together in the last few months. And maybe, that is the true reason why a handful of tears are now carving themselves a path, running down her cheeks. The realization that they had tried to stay away from each other whenever she was around, trying to spare her any further pain. Trying not to remind her of what happened, what she has lost.

She really had thought that she had all the time in the world to fully get over Wayne and to get ready to open her heart again. That her and Danny had all the time in the world. And now it’s too late and she feels like a fool, her heart closed off again and a little wave of jealousy rolling over her.

_____

**Jackie**

It’s nauseating.

All she wants is to eat in silence and to not see something that makes her want to gag. But as she slowly walks into the main living space, she can’t help but roll her eyes, a fond little smile grazing her lips. How can they be so damn cute?

Bryce and Casey are lying on the small sofa, their legs tangled, her head resting on his chest and his arm is protectively wrapped around her. The idyllic picture only gets destroyed by Bryce’s – probably stinky – feet hanging over the edge of the couch, his toes practically wiggling in the air, and Casey suddenly making a sound that Jackie can only compare to that of a croaking frog, and she has to suppress a laugh before her features soften again as Casey nestles even more into Bryce, her lips stretching into a soft smile.

Jackie has to scold herself, glad that Sienna isn’t here to see her almost being in awe over the cuteness before her. She would get teased relentlessly.

It’s just… that the peacefulness they portrait right now is a stark contrast to how _annoying_ they can get when awake. And maybe, deep down, she’s hoping to eventually find somebody who will make her smile in her sleep like that. Certainly not now – her job is way too demanding at the moment to even think about anything that goes beyond quick fun, especially since she wants to make sure that Gary is becoming a great doctor – but someday in the future.

As quietly as she can, and deep in thought, Jackie makes her way over to the kitchen, peering into her cabinet as she ponders which flavor she’s in the mood for. She’s already straightening up, S’mores Pop-Tarts in hand, when she sees arms getting stretched out and hears a few murmurs.

“… you were in it.”

“I was?”

“Mhm…”

“Tell me?” There is a short silence before Casey’s sleepy voice gets higher, a pout and big pleading eyes obvious even though Jackie only hears them. “Please, cuddle face?”

_Cuddle face_? Surprised, Jackie quickly presses her lips tightly together, a laugh threatening to escape her.

“Mhm… I like when you’re begging,…”

Jackie grimaces. _Too much information_. She should…

“…squirrel queen.”

That does it. A loud snort escapes Jackie, the package of Pop-Tarts landing on the kitchen counter with a soft thud, the lid opening and a Pop-Tart sliding out – not that she cares at the moment. Instead, she’s focused on the two clearly startled and embarrassed looking faces appearing, looking at her over the back of the couch with wide eyes.

“ _Cuddle face_? _Squirrel queen_? Really?!”

Oh, this is just _too good_.

_____

**Elijah**

The apartment seems cold and vacant like this, blanketed in silence and bathed in a dull shade of grey as clouds cover the weak morning sun. Elijah shivers while he prepares his breakfast, a wave of nostalgia hitting him as he remembers the warm atmosphere at his parents’ place he enjoyed just a few days ago.

“Morning,” he greets a still half asleep Jackie, relieved to not be alone in the room anymore, and chuckles at the half-hearted annoyed grunt she gives him in response.

It’s surprising that neither Aurora nor Sienna are here yet, the later having planned a roomies’ day which is the sole reason for Jackie already being awake, but it’s even more confusing when Casey and Bryce make their appearance before them as well. Yet, even with three other people in the room, Elijah feels lonely, the ongoing silence so bad that Elijah almost wishes for Bryce and Casey to shamelessly flirt with each other. Almost.

Having seen their kitchen routine often enough though, he knows how they are right after waking up – and it’s different from every other time of the day, at least from what they usually let other people see. It’s fascinating, and sometimes even soothing, watching them in the mornings, a certain innocence and gentleness in their behavior with each other.

There seems to be a silent understanding, an effortless anticipation of every step the other takes when they work together. A little smile to signal that he has poured enough water into the pot for the oats she had measured, a nod when he holds up his preferred fruits for today, him momentarily taking over stirring the oats-water mixture when she quickly abandons it to gather two bowls and spoons and him giving Casey her favorite coffee, setting it down next to the stove and his mug after she takes a sip of it and then him freeing her hair from the messy bun she sported, lovingly running his hands through it.

It’s interesting to watch them like this, performing an imperfectly perfect non-routine, something that isn’t a well-studied kitchen dance, as their little interactions, like the soft hip check that made Casey stumble a little to the right, prompting Bryce to grab her arm and steady her and her following little reassuring chaste kiss, show. It’s simply two people being almost flawlessly in synch with each other, reminding Elijah of his parents again.

Another little wave of missing them washes over him, but this time it leaves him feeling warm and content. That is until he hears a soft thud and Bryce’s voice filling the room, the flirtatious tone audible.

“What did I do to deserve this?”

“Your ass just looked _too delicious_ , B. I couldn’t resist.”

_____

**Ines**

The exhaustion is creeping its way into her body as Ines makes her way out of a patient room after a Code Blue.

Her shift already ended about an hour ago, but with her patient just having crashed, she wants to stay nearby, just in case she’s needed. The downside however, is not seeing her girlfriend today. And although she’s very accepting of Ines’ job and her care for her patients, it’s still not an ideal outcome.

With tired eyes, wishing to be able to cuddle with her girlfriend right now but settling on calling her in a few minutes to at least hear her voice, Ines trudges through the relatively empty, slightly darkened hospital hallway. At the nurses station, she gives Marlene an exhausted smile before walking into the doctor’s lounge, the promise of a warm coffee tempting her.

She yawns, running through the possible coffee options when she spots Casey on the couch, half-sitting, half-lying, with Bryce on top of her, his head resting comfortably on her stomach. His face is turned towards the back of the couch while Casey is concentrated on a medical book, probably still trying to figure out the curious case of the _psychic_.

A little unsure, Ines stops in her tracks, observing the scene in front of her. Neither Casey nor Bryce notice her in their peaceful state, the only noise in the room being the turning of pages, and with a fond smile, Ines turns around, fishes her phone out of the pocket in her coat and opens the chat with her girlfriend.

_Am at yours in 30 minutes._

**Author's Note:**

> Characters and in parts the dialogue belong to Pixelberry Studios.  
> Song: Mamma Mia - Abba  
> Nicknames - Cuddle Face: Bryce has a specific expression when he wants to cuddle, a certain vulnerability in his eyes and a little, barely-there pout; Squirrel Queen: Casey ‘rescued’ Bryce’s T-Shirt from being stolen by a squirrel when they were swimming in the river (B2Ch1). They barely use these nicknames, but sometimes they’re just in the mood to.


End file.
